THE GUIDE

By BARBARA DELATINER

Published: March 31, 2002

Best Bet

From the age of 17, when he left Levittown High School without a diploma to tour with the Amazing Randi, Scott Interrante has made a living as a professional magician. But despite his experience, Mr. Interrante, now 40, admits to being ''a little scared'' these days as he performs ''The Incredible Universe of Magic and Illusion'' at the Vanderbilt Planetarium in Centerport.

His illusions appear live on the planetarium dome. ''There I am, projected so large than if I make a mistake, everybody can see,'' he said.

In his run at the planetarium, performing at 3 and 4:30 p.m. on Sundays and at 4 p.m. tomorrow through Friday, Mr. Interrante has so far escaped error. He has also escaped from a locked trunk in a straitjacket in a famous Harry Houdini trick he learned from the Amazing Randi, who learned it from Blackstone, who learned it from Houdini.

That's how magicians perfect their craft, Mr. Interrante said, by learning the classics from others, and ''by creating your own methods, your own tricks.''

Mr. Interrante's first teacher was his father, an amateur magician who taught him at age 7 how to make a coin disappear. Then a grandfather built him a wooden box for disappearing items; he still uses it in his act.

At 16, working backstage at LaSalle Academy in Oakdale, he met the Amazing Randi, James Randi, who became his mentor. He has been on the road ever since, and played Houdini in the 1981 film ''Ragtime.'' Now Mr. Interrante has returned to Long Island with a multimedia show that combines live performances (with assistance from his financée, Danae DeFeis, who is sawed into three pieces in the finale) with an audiovisual lecture on the history of magic. After all these years, he said, he still gets a kick out of the disbelief and wonder on the faces in the audience. ''The way the world is today, we all need a little escape from reality,'' he said. Information: (631) 854-5550.

Women Rule

Three female performers will dominate Long Island stages this week. On Friday, Donna McKechnie of Broadway fame (remember ''A Chorus Line''?) performs her cabaret show at 8 and 10 p.m. at Tilles Center on the C. W. Post campus in Brookville. Information: (516) 299-3100. At the Staller Center in Stony Brook on the State University campus, Dawn Upshaw, the Metropolitan Opera soprano, offers ''Music of the Spirit,'' singing works by Bach and Messiaen at 8 p.m. Information: (631) 632-2787. Ruth Laredo, the pianist, appears Saturday in a ''Concert With Commentary'' devoted to ''Clara Schumann and Her Circle'' at 7:30 p.m. at Southold High School on Oaklawn Avenue. Information: (631) 734-7696.

From Near and Far

Musicians from near and far make Saturday a challenging night for classical music fans. Will it be the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg, Austria, joined by Ingrid Haebler, pianist, in an all-Mozart program at 8 p.m. at Tilles Center? Information: (516) 299-3100. Or the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, playing works by Schoenberg and Schubert at 8 p.m. at Sayville Junior High School on Johnson Avenue? Information: (631) 224-5420. Or the Long Island Baroque Ensemble with ''Filtered Light,'' a program of rarely heard, comic (and sometimes bawdy) 17th- and 18th-century quodlibets at 8 p.m. at St. Andrews Lutheral Church in Smithtown? ''Filtered Light''will be repeated next Sunday in Oyster Bay. Information: (631) 724-7386.

Prize Rabbits

Rabbits may not be the pets of choice for multitudes, but there are enough fanciers of the creature around to support the Long Island Rabbit Breeders Association. Displaying 1,500 prize winners, including such favorites as Holland lops, Belgian hares and English angoras, the group will stage a show from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at Old Bethpage Village Restoration on Round Swamp Road. Information: (516) 572-8400.

Free Choice

THURSDAY -- The Nassau Community College Center for Catholic Studies and the Nassau chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union join forces for a debate, ''Should Parents Be Able to Use Public Taxes to Pay for the Education of Their Children in Private Schools, Whether Secular or Religious?'' at 8 p.m. in the College Center on the Garden City campus. Information: (516) 572-7454.